Sheep farmers told to share views on performance recording

The survey wants to gain a better understanding of current sheep industry attitudes to genetic improvement programmes and performance recording
The survey wants to gain a better understanding of current sheep industry attitudes to genetic improvement programmes and performance recording

Welsh sheep farmers are being encouraged to share their views as part of a survey looking at performance recording and buying performance recorded stock.

The survey aims to discover farmers' opinions on performance recording and identify any barriers which could be removed.

It is part of Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) Hill Ram Scheme, which aims to encourage the use of performance recording in the hill sector.

The survey is available online and sheep farmers who take part in the survey have the opportunity to win a tablet to help with their farm business.

HCC’s Dr Heather McCalman said there were some barriers to farmers wanting to performance record or to buy performance recorded stock.

"However, we would like to understand how we can help the industry overcome some of these obstacles to make it more accessible for everyone," she said.

"Performance recording is a proven and long-term solution to improving stock performance and profitability and it would be benefit the whole industry if it became more accessible to more farmers.

"This is an important element of our scheme which encourages farmers to employ simple to use genetic technology, allowing them to performance record without having to make fundamental changes to their systems."

The survey will take farmers approximately 20 minutes to complete, HCC said.